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CX)FlfRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



RUNES OF THE NIGHT 



A BOOK OF VERSE 



BY 
JOHN BENJAMIN MAGEE 




BOSTON 

SHERMAN, FRENCH & COMPANY 

1916 



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Copyright, 1916 
Sherman, French 6^ Company 



GIA446452 






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TO 

MY FATHER 

"A MAN OF DISCRETION" 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The River of Ahava 1 

Laughter in My Heart 27 

Follow the Star 30 

The Seventh Ruler 31 

Peg 35 

Night 36 

Thieves 37 

The "Winged Slipper" Professor ... 39 

The New Year 41 

War's Nightmare 42 

Mother 46 

I'll Give a Minute to You 47 

Father 49 

Eyes 50 

Thorns 53 

Gladness 54 

A Resemblance 55 

Gertrude 57 

The Metal Flag 59 

The Two Reapers 61 



THE RIVER OF AHAVA 

This is the story of a young man by the name of Ish- 
sechel, a Nethinim or temple-servant, who, even though 
in captivity, has a vision which encourages industry, and 
who borrows the books of wisdom that he may prepare for 
the call which he knows must come. The call comes from 
Ezra, who is encamped upon the River of Ahava, and 
here Ish-sechel comes to lead Israel in worship and to be- 
come its chief minister. His vision was made possible 
through industry. 

PRELUDE 

Thou who hast read in book divine 

Of captive Israel beyond the Arab sands, 
And who doth treasure every line 

That chronicles the tales of Holy Lands ; 
Thou who dost love to read of Daniel true, 

Who purposed in his heart to serve his God, 
Or of the faithful Jewish children who 

With saving angel fiery furnace trod ; 
Child of Him who heard Ishmael's cry. 

And granted wisdom great to David's son ; 
Believer in Job's builder of the sky. 

List to a tale of Ancient Babylon. 



Some names there are w^it bold in Holy Book, 
And stories oft related of their deeds. 

But wouldst thou hear of one whom angels took 
From obscure toil to meet Israel's needs .^^ 

No scribe thought fit to chronicle his name, 
And earthly books have made his story brief, 

[1] 



But heav'n will make perpetuate the fame 
Of Ish-sechel, "man of discretion," chief. 

So rest while honor due is given him, 
Whose vision liberated captive brain, 

Who slaved, but sang each night a sacred 
hymn, 
And guarded well his soul from every stain. 

CHRONICLE 
I 

FALL OF JERUSALEM 

In the reign of Zedekiah, he whose reign was 

marked with wrong. 
Who profaned God's holy altar, felt himself 

both safe and strong. 

Heralds came from Neb'chadnezzar, asking him 
to swear by God ; 

But deceived in his own prowess, met their mes- 
sage with a rod. 

Even faithful Jeremiah, speaking from Jeho- 
vah's mouth. 

Saw the youthful king unhumbled, prophesied 
a blasting drouth. 

Chief of priests and all the people laughed and 
mocked with evil scorn, 

And Jehovah's house polluted by their prac- 
tice pagan-born. 

[2] 



Then it was that God rose early, and in love 
a message sent ; 

Had compassion on the people and His dwell- 
ing-place now rent. 

But they scoffed at all His prophets, and de- 
spised His kindly word. 

Then His wrath rose up against them ; they 
must perish by the sword. 

Mighty Maker, Strange Designer, He who 
moves mysteriously. 

Made the King of far off Chaldee to contem- 
plate seriously. 

Then this ancient king grew stronger, as his 
mind was joined with God, 

And by power strangely given, yielded to Je- 
hovah's nod. 

Yet he knew not what had moved him to at- 
tack Jerus'lem's wall ; 

It was the great God of Battles who had 
planned the city's fall. 

PoAver of Heav'n, angelic legions, hosts of 

skies unseen but real. 
Crush this proud, rebellious spirit that thy 

strength thy foes might feel. 

[3] 



Thus they fell, the youth and virgin, hoary- 
headed men and priests, 

In the holy sanctuary where they held their car- 
nal feasts. 

See the flames of God's own temple as they leap 
to meet the skies ; 

See the haughty Zedekiah, as he from his pal- 
ace flies ! 

Hear the distant thunder rumbling, as the city 
walls fall down ; 

See that wretched priest go flying in his sacer- 
dotal gown ! 

Down the street with chariots laden come the 

conquering riot hosts. 
Slaughtering with fiendish laughter, shouting 

out blasphemous boasts. 

Arms and backs ache with the burdens of the 

treasures they have found: 
Temple vessels, golden altars, princely robes 

and ro3^al crown. 

Out beyond the ruined city, 'cross the hills and 

desert sands. 
Goes this great victorious army back once more 

to native lands. 

[4] 



In the midst of all the thousands march the 

remnant of the Jews ; 
Slaves they are and burden bearers till such 

time as God shall choose. 

II 

RETURN FROM CAPTIVITY 

In the reign of the great Cyrus, he who had 

the world annexed, 
God bethought Him of His people, they who 

had His spirit vexed. 

Seventy years had hurried onward, while the 
Persian kingdom grew. 

In which time the captive remnant hoped sal- 
vation for the few. 

Then God took the soul of Cyrus, stirred it up 

with generous thought. 
Taught him that his world-wide empire had 

Jehovah's people bought. 

Then the King made proclamation throughout 

all his vast domain ; 
Put it also into writing: "I will build God's 

House again." 

Next day Cyrus took an offering; made it gen- 
eral through the land ; 

Took in gold and silver vessels, goods and 
beasts on every hand. 

[5] 



Now rose up the heads of houses, Priests and 

Levites of the past ; 
Shook their silvery heads most gladly ; they 

were free to go at last. 

What a joyous throng assembled in the plains 

that happy day, 
Coming from the kingdom's corners regardless 

how hard the way. 

Sheshbazzar, the Prince of Judah, took the 

treasure from the King: 
Platters, knives and precious vessels, gold and 

silver, everything. 

Long the journey, tired the pilgrims e'er they 

came to Judah's land 
With their sacred temple treasures and their 

singing, joyous band. 

Now we see the Holy City rising from its ruined 

state 
Into grandeur not less glorious than before 

its shameful fate. 

But the House of God grew slower than the 

leaders felt was right. 
And they feared to vex Jehovah or do evil in 

His sight. 

[6] 



So they sent to Artaxerxes, asked that he their 
burdens Hft, 

And the gracious King made answer with a gen- 
erous royal gift. 

Ezra, too, at his suggestion, gathered all who 

now remained 
In the borders of the kingdom, through their 

slavery detained. 

What a mighty reenforcement for the builders 

all too few; 
Some to fight, and some to chisel, some to build 

and some to hew. 

See the caravan now passing from the gates of 

Babylon ! 
See their slowly swinging camels, see their 

Arab horses run! 

Emir-el-had j, called the leader, rides his swing- 
ing desert ship. 

Shaded by the rocking houdah, rhyming with 
its jolt and tip. 

Kufiyeh protects his temples from the torrid, 

dusty heat. 
While his long embroidered kamis flows in folds 

about his feet. 



[7] 



Far away to dim horizon reach the treacherous 

desert sands, 
While between a cool, dark river stretches 

forth enticing hands. 

On its banks the weeping willows shield their 
heads with flowing dress. 

And refreshing evening zephyrs bid the cara- 
van to rest. 

On the sandy beach stands Ezra, as the sun 

lies down to sleep, 
Praying that the Great Eternal might protect, 

strengthen and keep. 

For three days amid the sunshine of that 

bright, enchanting spot 
Watches he among the people for a man, but 

finds him not. 

So Ahava's quiet river lulled their minds to 

peaceful rest. 
While a search was made by Ezra for this 

MAN, at God's behest. 

Ill 

ISH-SECHEL 

Ish-sechel, the slave of Darab, sat within his 

master's gate. 
Talking with his sister Narsi, spared to him 

by friendly fate. 

[8] 



"Sister," sighed the youthful dreamer, as his 
eyes gazed off in space, 

"Think you, God can love this people of a sin- 
ful, thankless race? 

"Seventy years, our prophets told us, would 

redeem the faithful ones. 
And today should close the seventy years of 

never ending suns. 

"Sweet and faithful sister Narsi, do you wish 

to hear the tale, 
How last night I had a vision which my heart 

says cannot fail? 

"All this day I've served the master, but my 

thoughts were far away, 
'You shall conquer life through service,' so I 

heard my angel say." 

"Brother, you are tired with labor; dwell no 

more upon this thing. 
Sit beside me on this settle, while of Babylon 

I sing. 

"Twenty years and six kind Darab has to you 

a father been ; 
Would you wish to rise and leave him who 

must now upon you lean?" 

[9] 



"Hold ! Sweet sister, chide your brother not 
for what seems meagre pay 

To our kind old pagan master for so bright- 
ening our way. 

"Well do I recall his goodness when our mother 

dear lay dead ; 
Though a slave, I know he loved her, for he 

kissed her aged head. 

"But I owe him small allegiance, now that I 

have seen the Lord, 
Who revealed His Holy presence, struck 

within my soul a chord. 

"Artabanes, faithful servant, sat beside my cot 

last night 
And related tales of Judah, till the moon put 

out its light. 

"As I looked into his deep eyes, with a lustre 

heaven-born, 
I could read how much he suffered, how his 

godly soul was torn. 

"Back somewhere in David's city he had left 

a slaughtered bride. 
Who had fallen in the battle, smitten at his 

very side. 

[10] 



"Yes, perhaps he set me dreaming of the pa- 
triarchal men 

Who gave life to Judah's kingdom, and of those 
who will again. 

"And it may have been I gave a thought to 

what I'd like to be, 
And how perhaps I might be called to set our 

nation free. 

"But, dear, as the sun was gilding Arta- 

xerxes' garden walls 
And the mountainous embankments with their 

foliated halls, 

"Just when short'ning shadows reached the 
broad Euphrates' willowed side. 

Then I oped my southern window ; watched the 
darkness seek and hide. 

"No false drowse had crossed my e3'elids since 

good Artabanes left, 
But perhaps they closed an instant due to rest 

and sleep bereft. 

"You think some phantasmagoria lingering on 

the gloomy wall 
Struck within my mind a weakness which I 

dream to be a call. 

[11] 



"This I know: I had a vision of a figure all in 

white ; 
Robes resplendent with a glory beaming out 

celestial light. 

*'Lo ! I stood at heaven's portal ; angels filled 

the restless air ; 
Golden spires shone above me, precious stones 

set everywhere. 

"Then he spoke, this man of heaven, and his 

voice was like a wind, 
And my soul was filled with music of the most 

eternal kind. 

" 'Son of man, both true and faithful, thou 

hast served thy master well ; 
Thou must soon do greater service ; list to what 

I have to tell : 

" 'Isfundear, the sage of Nippur, reader of the 

starry signs, 
Waits for thee at heaven's bidding to reveal 

its strange designs. 

" *Seven years of perseverance, searching midst 

prophetic lore. 
Then among the old papyrus, law and history 

seven more. 

[12] 



" 'Thoughts will then be tried by fire, and ages' 

wisdom will be thine ; 
Knowledge and discretion's secrets will be 

treasuries divine. 

" 'So Casiphia's silver mountains will seem 

filled with worldly dross ; 
For your soul will be as gold refined and all 

the earth seem loss. 

" 'Keep my words and search for knowl- 
edge ; serve your brothers as you toil ; 

Say what God shall then direct you ; to your 
vision then be loyal.' 

"He was gone, the light had vanished, and the 

night seemed doubly dark ; 
But, fair sister, as I looked I saw my shadows 

on their mark. 

"All had happened in an instant, for with God 

there is no time ; 
He had stopped a fleeting second, filled my soul 

with thoughts sublime. 

"Come, my NarsI, let me lead 3^ou where the 

dews of night fall not. 
Pray for your unworthy brother, then find 

rest upon your cot. 

[13] 



"I shall to my sacred bower where last night I 

met the Lord, 
There to pray His guiding wisdom which my 

heart shall peace afford." 

IV 

INDUSTRY 

Years had passed since one cool evening Isfun- 

dear, the Nippur sage, 
Saw a horseman, hot and dusty, who appeared 

of youthful age. 

Reign his panting, lathered pony just outside 
his humble tent. 

Hold his heart, and look to heaven as on sa- 
cred mission bent. 

"Peace to thee, my youthful brother!" cried 

the reader of the sky. 
As in warm embrace he took him, while the lad 

made faint reply : 

"Peace to thee, O aged servant, by our Lord 

divinely led ! 
Blessed be thy humble altar, and the ground 

thy feet doth tread." 



[14] 



Months and years of weary labor had been 
spent in holy toil ; 

Lad and sage had worked together in old wis- 
dom's arid soil. 

But their hearts had found refreshment in a 

world of sin and pain; 
They rejoiced in loving-kindness, which they 

showered as the rain. 

Wisdom joined with love grew fertile and it 

yielded ripened fruit, 
And they labored uncomplaining, anxious only 

God to suit. 

One day Ish-sechel had wandered far beyond 
the village gate, 

Crossed a stream and climbed a mountain, un- 
aware that it was late. 

Sitting on a rock to ponder while he wiped his 

sweaty brow, 
Lo, the sun grew dark, and thunder clouds began 

to moan and low ; 

And the air grew dusty with the wind which off 

the desert came, 
Hurled its tiny little bullets, stung his face into 

a flame. 

[15] 



Through the fast-approaching darkness stag- 
gered he with waning strength, 

Stepped upon a rock unstable, fell through 
space a fearful length. 

Pagan woodmen found him lying faint and 

gory, almost dead, 
And in simple Persian custom had compassion 

on his head. 

In the rough hut of kind Gushtasp, gentle 
hands soon cleansed his wound; 

'Twas Rouchunuc, gentle daughter ; voice me- 
lodiously tuned. 

How he quivered as she touched his brow or 

laved his smarting face, 
Smoothed his couch, or breathed a strain to 

Mazda for her race. 

Love of God was lost for woman, and his vision 

dimmed by sight, 
And his soul grew dark and darker, till his 

faith was lost in night. 

Ease and rest and Pagan beauty soon had quite 

transformed his mind ; 
He had fallen, stalwart manhood, eyes through 

worldliness made blind. 

[16] 



Hewing wood with artless Gushtasp, as his pay 

for kindness done, 
Was to him an irksome burden, and he longed 

for set of sun. 

Then with mingled love he led her through the 

silent forest glades. 
While the moonbeams kissed the branches, 

searching out the nightly shades. 

Cleaving timbers one bright morning, he had 

aimed a mighty blow. 
Felt his arms grow strangely stronger, felt his 

sinews stretch and grow. 

Crack ! The axe fell like the lightning, smote 

the tree with dreadful shock. 
While the sound reverberated through the hills 

from rock to rock. 

Heart all quivering, throbbing, bounding, while 

the echoes made reply, — 
What a glorious transformation in his soul and 

in his eye ! 

God's great axe had in this moment cleft his 

soul from end to end; 
What he was had been thrown open to his sight, 

his heart to rend. 

[17] 



Now he saw through this convulsion, how the 

tempter had him led; 
Fell upon his knees in anguish, with hot tears 

and heart which bled. 

Looking up he saw his vision, bowed himself, 

and wept aloud; 
"O my Master, have compassion. Holy Lord 

with grace endowed. 

"Take away these dreadful vapors, and reveal 

Thy blessed face; 
Pardon, strengthen, lift and save me by the 

fullness of Thy grace. 

"Neither knowledge, thought, nor beauty can 
restore what I have lost ; 

Only sacrifice and labor can redeem at fright- 
ful cost." 

"Son of man, arise this instant ; waste no more 

my precious days ; 
Seek forgiveness from Isfundear, then betake 

you homeward ways." 

Down the mountain, 'cross the valley, not a mo- 
ment did he pause 

Till the tent of preparation found him back to 
join God's cause. 

[18] 



Here had he with steadfast purpose sought to 
satisfy his soul; 

Now again, since his awakening, would he la- 
bor for his goal. 

V 

THE CALL 

Now it chanced that gentle Darab many years 
had been at rest, 

And the Persian's former servant now as mas- 
ter was addressed. 

Something in his humble bearing made one feel 

he knew the Lord; 
He had known some great experience, torn by 

shock or cut by sword. 

None were slaves and none was master; all were 
brothers in their toil ; 

Ish-sechel was still a servant, cultivating stub- 
born soil. 

Lifting stones for tired workmen, ploughing 

fields at early morn, 
Toiling to fulfill his vision, perfect man through 

service born. 

Camels, asses, beasts unnumbered, workmen, 
fields and broad estate. 

These were his without the asking, yet he la- 
bored early, late. 

[19] 



Every evening after sunset, down the cobbled, 

winding street, 
'Twixt the dwellings of the people, whom he 

loved to know and greet, 

Went he to the house of Iddo, where the faith- 
ful Nethinims 

Met to hold their holy worship and to sing their 
sacred hymns. 

He was loved by all the people; Levi's minis- 
ters rejoiced 

When they saw his godly presence, as he lived 
that which he voiced. 

Once it seemed, when golden sunset crowned the 

palms with glory bright. 
That a halo stood above him, that he stood 

transfixed in light; 

And his face beamed heavenly sunshine, and his 

voice was like the bird. 
What an awe inspiring figure! How his fel- 

lowmen were stirred ! 

But he waited, oh, he waited, for that caravan 
to call, 

Thinking of that midnight angel and that pal- 
ace garden wall. 

[20] 



Now it happed that King Darius gave some 

great and costly feasts, 
And that Ish-sechel was ordered to be there 

among the priests. 

When the lords had gorged their bodies both 

with food and restless wine, 
Call was made for priests and nobles to declare 

the GIFT divine. 

First there came a drunken satrap, king in 

name but not in deed, 
Who declared the vintage springs possessed the 

life-refreshing seed. 

Then there came an aged Magi, in a voice with 

hollow ring, 
Who, to please the great Darius, told the power 

of a king. 

"Ish-sechel !" cried all the nobles, for they 

wished his fame to spoil ; 
"I declare for truth," called he, "for wisdom, 

truth and daily toil !" 

Then rose up the priests and nobles, satraps, 

ministers and king; 
"Great is truth !" they shouted wildly, "mighty 

over everything!" 

[21] 



"Ask whatever gift tliou cravest, and it will be 

given thee; 
Thou art found to be the wisest," said Darius, 

graciously. 

"Then, O King of mighty Persia, take an offer- 
ing for my liord ; 

Help us build our Ancient Temple once cast 
down by Persia's sword." 

"Though I cannot go to Judah till my God 

doth so request, 
Yet out of thine ample largess thou canst give 

as I suggest." 

Several years had passed like phantoms since 

that declaration bold ; 
Ish-sechel's great fame grew broader till in 

Israel 'twas told. 

Standing at his gate one evening, where so many 

years ago 
He and tender sister Narsi talked in voices soft 

and low, 

"They wdll come," he whispered sadly, "I will 

never be denied. 
For the God who leads me leads them" ; then 

he bowed and softly cried. 

[22] 



Through his tears he saw a picture out upon 

the desert face ; 
No, a speck, a shape, a camel, camels, men in 

urgent race. 

Then his saddened eyes dilated, and his flesh 

grew chill and white; 
Could it be hallucinations ; would his hope be 

lost in night? 

Up before his gate these specters drew in silent, 

calm array. 
Cried out "Ikh, Ikh" to the camels ; their beasts 

knelt as if to pray. 

"Peace to thee !" cried Eliezer. "And to thee 

most welcome guest ! 
And to all this holy circle may this hour be 

doubly blest." 

Joiarib and Shemaiah, Elnathan and Ariel, 
Nathan, Jarib, Zachariah, Meshullam, before 
him fell. 

"Faithful servant of Jehovah," Eliezer bowed 
his head, 

"God would have thee serve thy people, min- 
ister divinely led. 

[23] 



"Israel awaits thy coming by Ahava's peaceful 

shore ; 
Hasten, great and worthy teacher, 'Man of 

knowledge' evermore." 

How he burned with holy passion as he heard 

these joyful words; 
How much brighter seemed the heavens ; how 

much sweeter sang the birds. 

He had waited, toiled and suffered all these 

years to see this day. 
Now he feared his mind deceived him; had his 

thoughts begun to stray? 

"We have here this sacred camel, richly fur- 
nished all for thee; 

Come, your Heavenly Father calleth. We 
would God's salvation see." 

"O most worthy Eliezer, you would glorify the 



man 



Urge no more ; thy servant heareth ; I will serve 
the best I can. 

"But no richly furnished camel will I use to 

serve my Lord ; 
On the humblest beast created will I carry out 

His word. 

[24'] 



"If sometime the Great Messiah comes to earth 

as prophets say, 
He will ride no sacred camel, but the ass in 

humblest way. 

"Peace go with thee, faithful servants, I will 

follow on tonight ; 
And tomorrow's morning sunrise will reveal 

my soul's delight." 

AFTERWARD 

The hand of our God is upon them 

That seek Him in patience and toil; 
His wrath is against those who hate Him, 

Who leave Him in service disloyal. 
He led Ish-sechel for a purpose. 

And found him the child of his God; 
He found him a "Man of discretion" ; 

He chastened him under His rod. 

Casiphia's mountains, though silver. 

And houses and lands, though untold, 
Appeared to his spiritual vision 

As worthless and lifeless and cold. 
He sought through his toiling to conquer; 

He fell, but he rose once again ; 
His dreams were of heav'nly material, 

His life the most noble of men. 

[25] 



The river still runs to Ahava, 

Its waters are peaceful and calm ; 
God's plans, as we know, are unchanging; 

If we will, He fills life with a psalm. 
He calls us to labor and service. 

To search in the wisdom of old; 
He cleaves our small soul with His axes, 

Then visions prove greater than gold. 



[26] 



LAUGHTER IN MY HEART 

The day God breathed the breath of life 

Into my new born soul, 
He heard the laugh of angels gay 

Across the Heavens roll. 

He made the laugh, and knew its worth ; 

He put it in man's heart ; 
He taught the angels how to laugh, 

And give this joy a start. 

Now, as He breathed infectious life, 

His spirit rose with mirth ; 
He laughed into my baby soul. 

And laughter gave me birth. 

What transports filled my infant mind 

While God's contagion grew ; 
My mother smiled to see me laugh 

As laughs the sparkling dew. 

The Heavens sang ecstatic songs. 
And strewed my path with flowers ; 

While through me laughter filled the world 
With heart-refreshing showers. 

Then clouds began to drape the sky ; 

Sharp winds blew cold and chill ; 
My happy, free, light-hearted way 

No longer swayed my will. 

[a7] 



The laugliter of the world had ceased ; 

The angels no more sang; 
God's mirth ceased breathing through my heart ; 

My laughter no more rang. 

Since man by breath of God is born, 

By breath of God lives he, 
And when he lives by Satan's breath, 

He kills vitality. 

Then waited I the forty thieves 

Who stole my life away ; 
The chief stood up before my heart, 

And boldly whispered, "Pray !" 

The door fell back with magic spring; 

The sunlight smote the dark ; 
And there before my opened eyes 

My wickedness lay stark. 

For sin and wrong breathe putrid air; 

They cannot live with God ; 
In soul of man the one must die 

Intombed by fleshly sod. 

But God and laughter never die; 

So in my heart I saw 
The treasures of eternal joy. 

And peace without a flaw. 

[28] 



How glad my life began to feel; 

The treasures multiplied ; 
The world rejoiced and Heaven sang, 

And only Satan sighed. 

God breathed again and made me live, 
And angels laughed a share. 

And I in turn created life 

By laughter made through prayer. 



[29] 



FOLLOW THE STAR 

Now the Wise Men from afar, 
Hoping for a Heav'nly King, 
Knowing what His reign would bring 
To a world with Satan's scar, 
Searched the Heavens for a star, 
Followed it in all its guiding, 
Lived above the world's deriding. 
Over mountain, desert, vale. 
That their mission might not fail ; 
That no worldliness might bar 
From their vision Jesus' star. 

'Tis the message Christmas teaches. 
How a star transforms the soul ; 

Gives a vision that moves mountains ; 
Puts the life in Christ's control. 



[30] 



THE SEVENTH RULER 



History tells of the wonders of earth, 
Monuments great with an immortal worth; 
Mined from the quarries and built of the dust ; 
Sculptured in bronze and a subject to rust; 
Spanning the heavens and gardening the plain ; 
Laughing at winds and defying the rain; 
Housing the bodies of kings in their death ; 
Honoring gods who have lived without breath ; 
Seven Great Wonders to genius of man, 
Shading the architect's name and his plan: 
Surely it seems that the greatest of time 
Must be these creatures of wisdom sublime. 

II 

The mighty pyramids, 

The calculator's pride ; 
The Babylonian grove 

For royal monarch's bride; 
The Artemisia Tomb, 

Death-home for Mausolus ; 
The great Olympian Zeus, 

Designed by Phidias ; 
The Seven-furlong Mole, 

And Tower of Sostratus ; 
The Rhodian Helios, 

The giant Colossus ; 
[31] 



The Ephesian Diana, 

The work of Chersiphron, 
Outshining works of modern man, 

The ancient genius' throne. 

Ill 

The seven great sages of Greece 

Stand first in the history of thought, 
As judges and rulers of wisdom and thrones, 

We learn of the sapience wrought. 
Yet Plato, the-sun-with-the-feet. 

Who strode both the earth and the sky. 
Was puzzled to name all these authors of sense ; 

Could Legend inform us just why.? 

IV 

What charm does this word hold. 
This sacred seven .^^ 
First, let us ask the old 
Who cast this mystic mould. 
Those ancient seers 
Of pristine years : 
Is it spiritual, 
INIathematical, 
Astronomical 
Or forged in Heaven? 

The days God took in making. 
The busy world is taking 

To learn of God. 
The dove took seven days 
[32] 



To find its homeward ways ; 

The dream of Pharaoh 
Twice seven years did show 

The fruit and rod. 



So I read of the seven great martyrs 

Who fought with the dragons and frogs ; 

Of Rome, the Eternal City, 

With its seven high hills and its bogs ; 

Of the Masters of Wisdom ; 

The Sleepers of Tours ; 

The Island of Bishops 

Exiled by the Moors. 

And I wonder of seven which is greatest, 

The first or the fourth or the last; 

Then I think of the man who is last in the line 

Of the seven great Kings of the past. 

VI 

The forest trees were temple walls to him. 
Who walked with God, as one in daj^s of yore ; 
The wind played oratorios and sang 
By gentle breeze and through the tempest roar. 
Birds sat upon his hands and chirped their 

love, 
W^hile God was forging brain and brawn of 

steel ; 
The purity of body, heart and soul 
Came from the out-of-doors and thus were real. 

[33] 



He was not built by man or human thought, 
But quarried from the mines of rugged toil, 
And sculptured out of bronze colossus high, 
And raised a Hanging Mountain from the soil. 

VII 

The Code of Hammurabi gave us law. 
And David glorified his shepherd God; 
Timolean gave justice for the rod, 
While Alexander conquered all he saw. 
'Twas Constantine who saw the King of Kings, 
And Washington whose patience saved a cause. 
But Lincoln, incarnation of all laws. 
Of Nature Liege, of whom the wide world rings. 



[34] 



PEG 

When the eye of the sun 

In the door of the East 

Peeks in on the sleepmg earth, 

And the birds with fun 

Hunt their morning feast 

With a warbling kind of mirth, 

'Tis my heart o'er-run 

With a joy increased; 

'Tis the day that gave her birth. 

When the water laughs, 
And the wind disports 
And leaves play at carnival, 
Or the moonbeam chaifs 
At the dove which courts 
On the ghostly spire tall, 
'Tis my soul which quaffs 
Of her sweet retorts ; 
I am blessed beyond them all. 



[35] 



NIGHT 

'Tis midnight ! 

The clock is beating the time ; 

It will not hush its heaving breast; 

I listen to its rhyme — 

Night!. Night! Night! 

Oh, for light! 

The sleeping world brings fear 

That morn is dead and will not come. 

And no relief I hear, 

But Night! Night! 

I see light ! 

But 'tis my thoughts which burn. 

And guide me through the dark of doubt ; 

'Tis these that make me yearn 

For midnight ! 



[36] 



THIEVES 

When ancient Greece was in her prime, 
And men were cheap in honest worth, 
And wise men saw the moral dearth 
Among the noblest of their time, 
A man of legal thought appeared 
To "write in blood" some guiding rules, 
And Draco, wisest of these fools, 
Made death for theft most highly feared. 

Today we do not kill for theft. 
But like the Spartans, teach to steal 
By souvenir and clever deal 
Till only thread-bare souls are left. 
We countenance this crime in youth. 
And smile complacently the while. 
And lift them o'er the civil stile. 
And pose as honest men forsooth. 

We fail our promise as to time. 

And steal the minutes from a friend 

To whom great tasks have had to lend 

Their precious seconds most sublime. 

And in that minute now destroyed 

And far beyond all hope to save, 

Both we and they might ages pave 

With thoughts and deeds by world enjoyed. 



[37] 



We hear a golden thought expressed 
Or read it in some treasured book, 
And store it in some mental nook 
For future use, its source unguessed. 
To steal a thought or word or phrase 
May seem to thoughtless minds no sin ; 
But honest men by toiling win, 
And by their thoughts make robbers gaze. 

To steal a name is worst of all ; 
And tongues that wag are highway thieA^es 
That plunder guiltless men, and leaves 
Them robbed of happiness, to fall. 
The gold of men is wealth, 'tis true. 
And thoughts are riches unexcelled, 
But steal a name and life is felled. 
For honest names are all too few. 

So let us make a code of rules 
To guide the thoughtless thief of time. 
Whose waste of minutes serves to prime 
This selfish, hungry chief of ghouls. 
And may we "write our code in blood," 
And punish thieves with social death. 
That none may draw a stolen breath, 
And earth be bathed in honest flood. 



[38] 



THE ^'WINGED SLIPPER" PROFESSOR 

My Webster and Roget are ready ; 

I've scanned great descriptions in Lit ; 
I've coached my wee vocabulary ; 

I'm now intellectually fit. 
Yet landscapes oft baffle narration ; 

The soul cannot tell all it sees ; 
But Jones would defeat all damnation ; 

To describe would congeal all idees. 

To see him with strapping pace moving, 

You might think ^lercury his pa. 
But be not deceived, I am proving 

Such surmise to be a faux pas. 
When under such sail he is tacking 

Because of the calm in his soul, 
He waited too long and is shacking 

To reach an ex post facto goal. 

His loquaciousness is his weakness ; 

Pauciloquy, Jones would deride ; 
My words though compound are but plainness ; 

His fustian cannot be denied. 
He talks in sesquipedal phrases ; 

Johnsonian language is his ; 
While common folk hear it with gazes, 

The broad-brows regard it as fizz. 

[39] 



Cunctation, another grave habit 

Puts Fabian off in the shade ; 
Poor Jones with a chance does not grab it, 

For promptness has not been his trade. 
He dresses for breakfast by dinner — 

'Tis fashion to go to class late ; 
At judgment this unpunctual sinner 

May find they've not set him a plate. 

In spite of his tardigrade manner, 

We like his sunshine-of-the-mind ; 
And e'en though a wag and a jester. 

His word-play is sparkling and kind. 
Perhaps though he is late to glory, 

Saint Peter will not close the gate. 
But waggishly say, "Tell a story. 

And I'll not report you came late." 



[40] 



THE NEW YEAR 

Five things will make this year your best 

If you will put them to the test: 

To think pure thoughts each coming day; 

To love all men without repay ; 

To live contentedly and right ; 

To pray to God each day and night; 

To speak as though each w ord your last ; 

Thus will your year be happ'ly passed. 



[41] 



WAR'S NIGHTMARE 

A BOY'S VIEW OF THE SPANISH-AMERICAN 

WAR 

The father of the writer was the minister who preached 
the farewell sermon to the departing company of soldiers. 
His prayer of that occasion is remembered as one of 
peculiar power. The closing stanza has reference to the 
camp at Chickamauga, where the boys took fever and re- 
turned home to die. 

FATHER, tell what the hornman meant 
As I lay in bed last night; 

For he woke me up, as the night air rent ; 
Does it mean they have to fight .^^ 

1 could hear the feet in the street below. 

As they ran dow^n toward the park. 
And all the while that mournful blow, 
And the night so dreadful dark. 

(To the colors) 

To the flag, to the flag; 

There is war, there is war; 

Rouse ye, hrave men, rouse ye, brave men; 

Say **Good hye,^' you may die; 

Waste no time, do not lag; 

To your colors gather, brothers; 

You must fly, you must fly. 



[42] 



Dear father, what did the captain want 

As he talked with brother Ted ; 
For he looked so stern, and his face so gaunt, 

And his eyes so awfully red? 
Oh, I fear Ted asked him if he might go, 

And the captain clasped his hand; 
For I heard these words, "To fight the foe 

Of my God and my native land." 

(Taps) 

Must he gOy 

Must he go? 
Brother Ted, Brother Ted, 

Brother Ted. 
Do not sigh, 

Do not cry. 
Father, so. 

Good father, why did you pray today 

Till my heart most broke its side? 
As I peeked to see how soldiers pray, 

I saw tears they tried to hide. 
And it seemed you prayed till we stood on 
high. 

Where they do not weep or fight ; 
And you made me feel I would like to die 

For our home and our nation's right. 

[43] 



Pray for peace. 

Pray for peace; 
Ask for strength, ask for strength. 

Ask for strength; 
Lest we fall 

By a ball. 
Never cease. 



Kind father, here come the brave boys now, 

With the flag they love so well; 
Oh, I want to cry as I see them bow, 

And the cheers my bosom swell. 
Now they're on the train; how the great 
crowd cheers ; 

There they go, father, wave your hand; 
Why, you look so old ; there, I see the tears ; 

You're so weak you can hardly stand. 



They are gone. 

They are gone; 
Trust in God, trust in God, 

Trust in God; 
They'll return 

And we'll yearn 
For the dawn. 



[44] 



Look, father! There by the baggage car 

Comes a stretcher grim and light, 
And the doctors say the slightest jar 

And he'd not last over night. 
Do they tell the truth, that he wasn't shot ? 

Then why should he be so ill? 
'Tis because they had to camp in rot, 

And not by a blood-won hill! 

So they die. 

So they die. 
For the ftag, for the flag. 

For tJie flag; 
Not a chance 

For adimnce. 
Damned lie. 



[45] 



MOTHER 

Celestial convocation ; 

The glad processional ; 

Our sin's confessional; 

The Master's adoration ; 

The robes of all degrees, 

From keeper of the gate 

To greatest of the great; 

All nations on their knees ; 

Among them all stands one, 

Her face with glory-burst ; 

She bows before the son, 

By pain no longer curst. 

"The highest name thou'st won ; 

I crown thee mother, first." 



[46] 



I'LL GIVE A MINUTE TO YOU 

My journey lies toward Jericho 

On the road of the thieves and priest, 

Where robbers wound and the Levites pass 

And you die like a fallen beast. 

Though the priests pass by 

And the lievites sigh 

And you curse all the churchly crew, 

Though you lie half dead, 

Let me raise your head. 

And I'll give a minute to you. 

My study door is opened wide 

To the hall of the passing race, 

Though duties press and the cares distress 

And fatigue scars my sweaty face. 

Oh, I pray step in 

From the noisy din. 

Though you hate my trade, 'tis true; 

Let me quench your thirst 

With some water first. 

Then I'll give a minute to you. 

For God above with tender love 
Has His office on every road. 
And the door stands wide for the tired man. 
For the man with the heavy load. 
And His time is yours 
While the world endures ; 

[47] 



He will ease your burden too; 

If you'll step right in 

And confess your sin, 

He will give a forever to you. 



[48] 



FATHER 

In the image of God were his features, 

And his brow was like Jove when in thought; 

His heart was as big as the morning, 

And his life was most beautifully wrought. 

Our table was dark when without him, 

And the neighbors knew when he came home 

By the laughter and mirth never dying. 

In love's empire that was greater than Rome. 

His evening is drawing about him ; 
May the logs of his faith keep him warm, 
And the stars that he puts in his heaven 
'Round his soul like brave sentinels form. 
Live on, both today and tomorrow ; 
The greater days lie just ahead. 
Remember, we love you, our Father; 
God's blessing upon thy good head. 



[49] 



EYES 

Eyes ! Eyes ! Eyes ! 
Under countless skies. 
Eyes on every city street ; 
Eyes in every face we meet ; 
Eyes in Heaven ; eyes in Hell ; 
Eyes that tragic stories tell ; 
How they weep, and laugh, and talk; 
How they stab, and how they mock; 
Eye of God to pierce the soul ; 
Eye of man to watch his goal. 
Thus the world doth scrutinize 
By its myriad, sleepless eyes. 

Eyes ! Eyes ! Eyes ! 

Guide of him who tries ! 

Eyes which tell soft tales of love ; 

Eyes which search the great above; 

Eyes of anger, pride and hate ; 

Eyes of sin insatiate ; 

Now they threaten, now they plead ; 

In the soul they plant their seed ; 

Full of beauty, prayer and speech; 

These exceed all chords and ties ; 

Clutching, gripping, binding eyes. 

Cries ! Cries ! Cries ! 
Tears and human eyes ! 
Eyes of sickly, starving babes ; 

[50] 



Eyes of worried mother-slaves ; 
Eyes of fathers, workless, poor; 
Eyes of rich, who can't endure; 
Mists of suffering ; clouds of woe ; 
Rains of sorrow; tides that flow; 
Eye of fool, like sun-dried lake; 
Eye of wise, its thirst to slake; 
These are listing, earthly sighs, 
By their sad and weeping eyes. 

Lies ! Lies ! Lies ! 

Told by faithless eyes. 

Eyes as bold as midnight beast; 

Eyes which passionately feast; 

Eyes as soft as pigeon down ; 

Yet on which true eyes must frown. 

Not alone in eyes of thieves ; 

Nor in him whose tongue deceives ; 

Eyes that gaze without a shift; 

Eyes that pierce and read and sift ; 

These small planets act as spies 

Of the soul of him who lies. 

Rise ! Rise ! Rise ! 
Lift your downcast eyes. 
Eyes discouraged through some ill; 
Eyes which show a broken will ; 
Eyes which have not seen the stars ; 
Eyes behind sin's prison bars ; 
See the beams of rising sun ; 
[51] 



They will light the course you run; 
Eyes were made to see withal ; 
Eyes were never made to fall. 
These excel the orbs of skies ; 
Raise your melancholy eyes. 



, [52] 



THORNS 

One day a soldier wreathed a crown ; 
Of thorns 'twas made and for his God; 
Upon the Savior's head pressed down, 
Each point became a drop of blood. 

Each drop of blood a jewel turned; 
Each thorn, a ray of light ; 
The crown became a diadem 
To turn to day the night. 

Paul saw that crown ; he felt the thorns ; 
He prayed they might depart; 
God gave him grace : the thorns remained 
To crown with righteousness his heart. 

Could I but have a single thorn 
From off that glory crown of Christ, 
The stars which ought my crown adorn 
I'd cast away ; this would suffice. 



[53] 



GLADNESS 

Sometimes you'll not feel happy ; 
Sometimes you may feel sad, 
But the time you feel the saddest 
Is the time to make hearts glad. 
For sadness turned to gladness 
By the mystic power of love 
Will make your earthly palace 
As bright as the one above. 



[54] 



A RESEMBLANCE 

Written for an invalid girl, living in England, on the 
occasion of an inspiring letter from her and read by her 
brother in America. The letter told of a brother lost on 
the English line in France, and revealed her optimism 
through faith in God. 

They look alike.? I cannot say. 
They look alike? Perhaps they may. 
I never saw her angel face, 
Sculptured by God's redeeming grace. 
She lives upon another shore, 
And ocean waves betwixt us roar. 
But though no man hath seen God's face, 
We do not feel a greater space 
Divides the human and divine 
Than if His face did ever shine 
As countenance of closest friend; 
Companionship to beauty lend. 
The mirrors of the world are great 
In which reflect man's love and hate. 
And though the human hands ne'er touch. 
The souls are bound. Nor is there such 
In all the world of rope and chord 
Which can such breakless ties afford. 
The photographs of soul and thought 
Are love's epistles, dearly bought 
By nights of aching eyes and hands. 
To reach some heart in far-off lands. 



[55] 



I saw licr lace in surli a pa/re; 

It (lid my thirsty soul assuage. 

Ho read to me, lier brotlier dear, 

With many a si^h and /^listening tear; 

1 le read as only love can read, 

As soul on precious soul doth feed. 

She led us both before the Throru! 

Of Him who trod the world alone. 

The brother's bosom swelled with pride, 

And in his secret soul he cried. 

So hear! in heart, I saw them stand 

As they will bo in Heaven's land. 

Her soul revealed on written sheet. 

Angelic, glorified and sweet; 

His face like Moses' countonanco 

Refined by God and not by chanco. 

The mo(hl of their faith is one. 

And both are like (iod's stalwart Son. 

They look alike? Yes, and like Him 

Whose li«'hl in (hem does not burn dim. 



[•^6] 



GERTRUDE 

'TwAs Sunday morn, 

Witli all the world at prayer; 

She cried, "Ts father there?" 

With death oidside Ills door 

He stood as oft before. 

Within Ills |)ul|)lt, nlL»'li, 

And siiiol licrt'd evei-y si^li. 

A mcssen^-er! 
He saw and understood, 
And closed as best he could 
With broken si^hs the word ; 
Ills con^'re«>atlon heard. 
And knew I he /^rlef he bore. 
And loved hliii all Ihc more 

A bedside f^roup. 

A broken, faded flower. 

And heart-cloud's salty shower; 

Then, soft as closing' day. 

She whis})ered, ''l<'ather, ])ray." 

And all were torn with woe 

Except the one to go. 

'Twas four A. I\t. 
'^rhe lad awoke with fear 
Of s()methln<>" very near. 
[571 



A light danced on the wall ; 
He tiptoed down the hall, 
Then cried his way down stair, 
And found the family waiting there. 

So still she lay. 

Her breath came like the wind 

Which blows, then dies; that kind 

Which lies so calm in sleep. 

Then rises from the deep 

As though it fights for life; 

Each breath a choking strife. 

The night is gone. 

Her soul took flight at five. 

She did not die. Alive, 

She lingers on the shore 

Of Heaven, and pains no more. 

She scans the barks that come. 

And waits for folks from home. 



[58] 



THE METAL FLAG 

Old Glory furled to the snapping breeze and 

never a shout was heard. 
But the busy mart and the marble purse cried 

out with the venal word: 
"We sell for cash, and the day is short ; we've 

paid for the soldiers' time ; 
The red of the flag is the blood of war, of the 

war of the Hen-fold dime.' 
The silver star we've placed in the sky of the 

nations East and West ; 
The field of blue is the heaven of peace ; we've 

met the commercial test. 
The wars of the world are fought for us, to 

fill our exchequer full; 
We have no fear for the threatening storm, 

we're secure in our ochered pull." 

So they sailed the seas in their costly ark with 

their scathless metal flag, 
For their drink and laugh and their muzzy 

songs were safe with this armored rag; 
And they threw a dare at the pirate throne, 

and the pirate smiled the while, 
For the sea was full of his ocean dogs, and his 

soul was full of bile. 
But the beau monde thought that a silver boat 

could despise both wave and shell; 

[59] 



That the surest way to preserve the life was 

to make the eagle yell. 
Though a mint of gold in the ocean's hold has 

declared that a coin will sink, 
Yet the only proof that the bigwig takes is 

the proof of a salty drink. 

Let us give a cheer for the flag once dear, 

though it cost our very life ! 
May the bull and bear of the pit and curb be 

shamed by the drum and fife ! 
May an iron bone and a strength of steel give 

force to a great resolve ! 
May we love our flag with our very lives 

though a conflict ma}^ devolve ! 
Though our hands are bare and we stand 

alone, may our will be King of force ! 
For a meaty thought can move the Avorld from 

a wrong to a righteous course ! 
May the drink and coin and the witling stock 

go down with the metal rag! 
May the armored mind and the blood-tipped 

pen preserve our honored flag! 



[60] 



THE TWO REAPERS 

The Doubter sat alone among his books, 
For no man dared to pass his threshold o'er ; 
Yet sat he not alone, for spirits fraught 
With messages from heaven communed with 

him. 
And he with them, as the long hours of night 
Brought to him the food that angels eat. 
They came so silently that like the wind 
Which roars with sullen wrath and then re- 
turns 
With catching breath to blow with unspent 

force. 
And in returning travels noiselessly 
And yet with greater speed than in its roar : 
So came these the thoughts of men. 
Which in the past had cannonaded minds 
And lives. They came with all their force 

intact. 
Possessing still their native power to move. 
The shelves once filled with treasured books 
Now seemed as rows of seats in which sat 

men, — 
But men with faces more like lucent souls. 
Which waited not to show thoughts one by 

one 
But in a glance revealed their total sum ; 
As lightning lights the landscape with a flash, 
And in that flash we see all things at once. 

[61] 



Could he have called the roll of specter friends, 
What voice might to him have made reply ! 
What decades, centuries and ages oped to him 
Their tales of love, of triumph and of war ! 
Josephus, Shakespeare, Gibbon, Plato, Grote, 
Stevenson, Scott and Dickens, Ibsen, Taine, 
These sat communing with his soul, though 

mute 
And speaking not, yet spoke as mortal voice 
Can never speak. Yet as he fed and gorged 
His finite mind upon this bread of heaven. 
It seemed as though two clouds had met mid- 
sky, 
And meeting, like a savage storm had cast 
A spell of gloom that grew to inky blackness 
O'er the entire scene. At last his eye 
Began to see, as Pluto's servants see 
In nether realms. He saw two giant forms. 
Both robed in night, who smiled as devils smile 
As with resistless sweep they mowed with 

scythes 
The unresisting spirits of his dream. 
In one he saw a patriarchal face. 
With beard all white, which flowed about his 

loins ; 
With parchment skin, all yellowed through 

with age. 
But eyes still flashing out their deathless end. 
The other, blacker still, if that could be, 
Revealed a face which w^as no face at all : 

[62] 



A skull, the shadow of a human face; 

A mouth, a fiendish, grinning, hellish mouth. 

The dreamer watched the reapers harvest those 

Of every cycle, every age in life 

Since Adam's day. The babe, the youth, the 

sage. 
The serf and tyrant king, all silent fell 
Like wheat before the binder, bundled, falls. 
He bowed his head, so great the carnage 

was. 
And sighed that these should die and be for- 
got 
While fools and wicked men still lived to curse 
The world which gave them birth. But whilst 

he sighed 
The two persistent forces, resting not, 
Mowed on, it seemed with unremitting hate. 
At last his mental anguish knew no bounds ; 
He cried, not as the criminal cries at death, 
When from his cell he walks the final path 
And stands prepared to meet his well earned 

doom. 
No cry of mountain beast or human throat 
Could match with this, the wail of finite mind 
Which felt itself fast nearing life's complete 
Annihilation. "Who are these huge ghosts 
Who know no tears and laugh at sorrow's 

pains ? 
These nightly shapes that feed on men and 

thinffs ? 



'» 



[63] 



Great God! See how that city flames with 

fire. 
And how that mountain tears itself apart 
To crush the sleeping village at its base. 
See how the sky joins hands with thunder 

clouds 
To roar and tear the victims of its wrath. 
Is there no God to chain these savage beasts, 
Or crush in turn these ever crushing fiends.?" 
And e'er his words themselves had ceased to 

be, 
Cut by the same unerring scythe of death, 
A voice replied, all cracked like thirsty ground ; 
And yet another joined the first with sound 
More like a frosty wind through dangling 

bones 
Than from the well tuned throat of earthly 

man. 
"My name is Time," quoth he of parched 

breath. 
"I rule all men and worlds, which are my food. 
By me they find location of their birth, 
And on their tomb they write their time of 

death ; 
Their age is but an atom of my life ; 
In me they live and move and have a being ; 
No memory could thrive in timeless worlds ; 
For only that which was can be recalled 
To finite minds. Infinite thought itself 
Can have no past, since that which was is now, 

[64] 



And ever shall it be: no history 

To be revived; no prophecy to tell; 

Once told, all's told; and there alone no time." 

"And I," the bony voice now reached my ears, 

"Am Death, with kingdom wide as finite space, 

In light as well as dark, on land and sea. 

In smallest whit or atom, or in spheres 

Too great for mortal mind to comprehend. 

The seasons die and nature sloughs away. 

Not dying once, but being born again. 

Dies many times ; and thus my sceptre rules. 

The fleshly body is not all that dies ; 

Hearts die; minds die; thoughts die; and voice 

and sight. 
Each dies, as dies the evening wind. 
Which is the funeral hymn of dying day." 
The weight increased and doubt began to paint 
With glowing brush this gloomy battle scene. 
For doubt can make the darkest night as clear 
As brightest day, and brightest day like night. 
Old Time looked not one half so fierce to him 
As earth with all its toil and pain, so cruel. 
And Death, the skeleton with winding sheet 
Which seeks out joy and crushes it in blood. 
Wore purple robes, and crown upon his brow, 
As though no God but him deserved his knee. 
Yet Doubt is only half convinced herself. 
And faith though feeble searches further proof. 
And every soul retains some spark of light 
Despite night's overwhelming cloak of dark. 

[65] 



And so, as if in answer to his thoughts, 

The walls fell down, and clouds filled all the 

room; 
The pictures changed, and he began to see 
Transpire before his eyes, in deathless scenes, 
The answer to liis puny, struggling faith. 

The Doubter saw a room of brightest joy, 
Within which sat a mother spinning wool, 
While at her feet sat playing laughingly 
A sweet faced child, with voice like chirping 

birds. 
The sun had turned his hair to ochered hue, 
Resembling yellowed edge to fleecy clouds 
Which curl across the forehead of the sky 
And make men pause to gaze in wonderment 
Before the artistry of heaven. 
Cherubic smiles flirted with lips and eyes. 
And made his angel guardians envious 
Of his innocence. She, the mother, proud. 
With heart as full of joy as clouds with dew. 
Which spill themselves to sweeten needy soil, 
Praised God for lad, and home, and love, 
And wept for happiness. The lad arose 
With sobs of pain, and like a wounded dove 
Which coos and cuddles close unto its mate. 
Sought refuge in his mother's willing arms. 
A hideous shape appeared before his eyes 
And struck his trusting mind with sickening 

fear. 

[66] 



The room grew chill, the sunbeams froze, 

As did the mother's heart. The black thing 

grew 
Until the room breathed stagnant, putrid air. 
She drew the child and warmed him with her 

breasts ; 
The room grew dark, and through that midday 

night 
A bony finger touched the laddie's heart. 
And crystal fountain gurgled into mute 
And laughless death. 

The artic winds go howling 'cross the waste 
Of ice dunes, smarting glacier cheeks 
Till sculptured sides hiss back their mournful 

song, 
And all is night and cold and drear, like home. 
That seat of love, 'round which affections grow. 
When Sin hath opened wide the gates of hell 
And breath of death blows desolation in 
Upon our joy. Such scenes the Doubter saw, 
And fact confirmed his fear that Death was 

king. 
But stop ! The shadow fled and slipped away 
With sneering rattle meant to be a laugh. 
And even while he fled, this king of gloom. 
Another shape more mighty than the first 
Slipped in. The mother raised her rainy face 
All marked with deep cut lines which made one 

think 
Of banks of sand mad torrent swept and traced 

[67] 



With heaven's tears. From life to death is 

short; 
Succeeding breaths may come, the one on earth, 
The one in heaven. But Time, the swifter 

winged, 
Can make the light, the sound, the darkness puff 
To keep abreast of him, so fast he moves. 
So while the mother's head was bowed in grief 
A diuturnity had come and gone. 
A few short years to this were but an hour. 
The life is measured not by looks and years. 
But by the wrinkled heart which lies within. 
The citadel of life Time first attacks. 
E'en while he looked the Doubter saw an age 
Write history in book of flesh and blood. 
The hair, the eyes, the teeth, the hands and 

back 
All showed the blasting power of hoary Time. 
The shadow laughed. "King Death is but my 

slave. 
The child died not ; he lives in realms of light, 
But see this mother, dead in all but soul. 
Old Time is king!" And Doubter bowed his 

head. 
"Old Time is king!" he cried. "Old Time is 

king !" 

Once more the skeptic gazed into the mist 

To satisfy the yearning of his soul; 

For who would care to live just for to die, 

[68] 



Or love to die by slow decay, to live 

As food for Cronos' peckish appetite? 

"Is there no God who lives beyond the screen? 

If not, I will not serve both Time and Death ; 

But which is really king?" sighed he. 

"O Fate! O Fortune's Wheel! O Destiny! 

Whate'er thou art, tell which is Lord." 

For answer, golden chords from off the sun 

Drew back the vaporous curtain of the stage. 

And there beneath a dirty sky. 

Festooned with clouds of gas like froth and 

spume 
Upon an angry sea, lay stretched a field 
All strewn with putrid flesh, and stagnant blood 
And rottenness polluted all the air. 
While cannons, guns and swords, and arms of 

war 
Piled high like cast-off iron waiting sale. 
Behind, in filmy haze he saw a town. 
Cathedral walls, and shells of ruined homes. 
The streets were like deserted hell at noon 
When shot and fire of heaven have raked it 

clean. 
And damned souls are driv'n to darker hell. 
And as he watched, his flesh grew gelid cold. 
For clouds and guns, the town and human 

forms 
Had shaped a perfect caste — the face of 

Death. 
The cavern eyes were made of jetty steam, 

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Which rose like fog; the mouth, a pile of men. 
His thoughts now made him blind to what he 

saw, 
For Time was king, and why should he laud 

Death ? 
The Ancient Reaper watched him search the 

scene 
In vain attempt to find his aged face. 
He then addressed the youth with haughty 

pride : 
"You fail to give obeisance to your Lord; 
But mark you well, you soon will feel my power. 
My scythe has caused this ugly battle scene. 
The plans were laid long years ago by men 
Who knew my strength, and used me for their 

cause. 
It took them years to build those mighty guns ; 
To train the mind to loyal discipline ; 
To know the strength and weakness of their 

arms. 
They gave the child full time to be a man. 
And for their blood to run in foreign veins. 
'Tis not alone by powder armies win ; 
The surer way is by the infused mind 
Which makes a hated race to serve as slaves, 
And turns the child against its native land. 
Cathedrals are not made within a day, 
But span the centuries. Designs must change. 
For who can think ahead four hundred years 
And have within his mind each door and spire, 

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And how the whole will look against the sky? 
Time builds with nails of progress each new 

wall, 
And workmen make their part a monument 
To brain and toil, while artists paint in blood 
Immortal frescoes in each apse and nave 
Then Time lays siege to that which he has 

built, 
And from the base to roof decay sets in. 
As silent as the movement of the stars 
The ceaseless plane shaves on remorselessly ; 
For dust thou art, to dust thou shalt return 
Is certain end for temples made with hands. 
Then see those clouds of gas and fetid air 
Which rise from bloody flesh unsepulchered, 
And how the strong cathedral of the soul. 
Which grew by slow degrees from seed to man, 
Disintegrates and mingles with the air 
Until no trace is left but memory. 
O Doubter, doubt no more ! You see my 

power." 

Just then the Death's Head grinned, and gave 

forth words 
Which sounded first like shrieks and cries and 

oaths, 
Then formed themselves into this frightful 

speech : 
"The old man tells but half the truth, my 

friend ; 

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And though he claims that you will feel his 

power, 
He fails to tell how in an instant I am King, 
And when I bid you bow, not even he can 

save. 
He sows, I reap ; he plants, I uproot ; 
He builds, I hold the lease; he serves, I eat; 
My greedy appetite exceeds his own. 
He lives on dusty things, I live on flesh. 
From tender babe to tough old age, I choose. 
Sometimes in ones and twos, sometimes in 

scores. 
This battle scene reflects my countenance, 
Because it was my will that these should die. 
I come from Hell, and what you see is Hell, 
For since Death cannot live in heaven or light 
He then must turn a heaven upside down 
To live on top. Serve Time, and call him 

King, 
But know that what I say is true, O man, 
That Death will one day claim you for his 

own; 
For from abysmal depths to starry heights 
All worlds have crowned me King of Kings." 
The Doubter groaned ; his soul was sorely torn. 
"To serve this fiend would make my home in 

Hell; 
And yet I fear that what he says is true. 
That Death is King of Kings, and I his slave." 

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The Doubter mused. His night was pitchy 

black : 
No sun, no moon, no star to light his way. 
His bitter fears like soot lay on his soul, 
And thoughts as dark as ravens' wings beat 

hard 
Against their prison walls ; and still no light. 
He sought to force the bars that held him in; 
His strength was gone, and mind had done its 

best. 
Then, soft as pollen whispering words of life 
To blushing rose, a voice lay on his ear: 
"The wages of sin is death, but hast thou 

sinned ? 
To search for truth is man's eternal task. 
The light is in the world, but you are blind 
And comprehendeth not. I am that light 
Which lighteth every man that seeketh me." 
The speaker ceased, and yet He seemed so near ; 
The blind began to grope as if to touch 
The garments of His form, but all was space. 
Again he heard : "If thou couldst see my face, 
Thou wouldst believe, but doubt hath made thee 

blind. 
Yet there are those who have not seen, but 

heard. 
And have believed, and thus been blessed with 

sight. 
Believe on me, and thou shalt never die. 
For he that heareth me and doth believe 

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On Him that sent me, hath eternal life, 

And shall not be condemned." 

Then from the depths the young man cried 

aloud, 
"Have mercy on me, Lord ; forgive my doubt ; 
Consider all my trouble which I have 
Of them that hate me, Thou that liftest up 
From gates of death. O Lord, lighten mine 

eyes. 
Lest through my doubt I sleep the sleep of 

death." 
Then sweet as angel breath, the voice cried out, 
"Let there be light!" And by the swiftest 

beam 
Of morning fire his shackled eyes were free. 
He leaped upon his feet and stared about 
To find the liberator of his soul ; 
And this is what his hungry eyes beheld: 
A MAN, the nonpareil of human form, 
Whose face was like all beauty deified ; 
The eyes as bright as diamonds of fire. 
Which read the heart without reproach or 

frown 
But fell with pity, melting doubt and fear. 
His lips contained a glory like the sun 
Which pours its evening wine along the clouds, 
And then smiles through to warm and bless the 

world. 
And all about a fulguration shed 
Its aureola with a nitid glow. 

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The young man bent his knee and bowed his 

head, 
While strains of heavenly music filled the room. 
His hideous dreams had taken wings and fled 
Like darkness at the sign of coming day. 
He hath no need of sun upon his path, 
For Christ, the World's Light, was now his 

guide. 
And now his soul breathed forth these words 

of faith : 
"Yea, though I walk the valley of the shade, 
I fear no harm, for Thou art by my side. 
For what is Time to thee, O Mighty God? 
And Death is swallowed up in victory. 
Jesus, thou Galilean laborer. 
Thou art the King of Kings forevermore." 



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